Brewers as lobbyists – tut, tut!

According to media reports, the USD 670,000, A-B spent in the first quarter this year is slightly less than the USD 680,000 it spent in the year-ago period, and the USD 690,000 it spent in the fourth quarter of 2009.

The St. Louis-based maker of Bud Light and Budweiser, which was bought in 2008 by Belgian brewer InBev to become AB-InBev, also lobbied on drunk driving, bailouts, health care reform, and other issues in the January-March period.

A-B lobbied both houses of Congress, according to a report filed 10 April with the House clerk’s office.

The Beer Institute spent USD 110,000 in the first quarter to lobby on taxes, food safety other issues, according to a recent disclosure report.

That’s less than the USD 160,000 the group spent in the fourth quarter of 2009, and the USD 170,000 it spent in the year-ago period.

The only comment I want to make is that the different expense levels allow for an interesting observation: namely, that the Beer Institute, although the industry’s body, has less money to spend on what it’s supposed to do than its individual members. Now this is what I consider a worrying development.